Cordless Drill Driver Recommendations

[Paul Canaris]

I am looking at the most recent crop of Drill Drivers; would like an 18v lithium model. So far I am thinking either Hitachi or Makita but am open to other suggestions...

Interested in hearing what your personal experience says is worth looking at and what to stay away from.

I use my drill drivers for both furniture work, basic construction and around the house repairs.

[Van Huskey]

For furniture I lke a light weight drill/driver and 18v for more contruction type work. If you want 18v I have been happy with my Dewalt 18V stuff not the best but I got good deals.

The Makita or Panasonic would be my first two choices in 18V tools with the Panasonic edging out the Mak, but honestly I would buy the one I got a better deal on unless I already had tools in the family to share batteries with. Now if you have thoughts of adding a impact driver (my favorite full sized battery tool EVER) I would get the Panny since I much prefer their impact driver.

[Rick Potter]

Got the Makita. Fantastic set.....drill and impact driver. Use the impact driver much more than the drill.

The green ones are the better quality units, and the batteries have more capacity. The white ones are lighter weight consumer versions with smaller batteries. The batteries are interchangeable.

Rick Potter

[Greg Portland]

Panasonic does not sell an 18V Li-ion drill. They sell 14.4V and ~22V models. I have the 14.4 and it has plenty of power & longevity.

[Nathan Palenski]

I have 2 Dewalt DC759KA 18v drivers. I keep one for drilling and one for screwing so I dont have to swap between tasks. Both work extremely well.

[Ben Hatcher]

+1 on Rick's suggestion. I have the white Makita set and absolutely love it. I reach for the impact driver 99% of the time, but both are light, and powerful.

[Robert McGill]

I have a Ryobi P206 18V cordless drill. I wanted something that was well under $100. It works pretty well. I think batteries are sold separately but I already had a few (another reason I wanted Ryobi). This one has 2 speeds and an adjustable torque chuck for controlling screw depth. It works pretty good but not as good as an adjustment mechanism that really measures depth. The lower speed is handy for when the battery starts to run down while driving screws (too slow for drilling). I have snapped some 2" screws with this drill (i.e. torque is high).

It has a keyless chuck which grabs pretty well. I often use hex shank bits and screw drivers so it's only an issue when I'm in a hurry and don't tighten it enough to keep the bit from falling out but it holds round drill bits just fine.

Standard NiMH batteries are not too expensive (~$45) but the Li-On batteries are twice as much. They also sell Li-On batteries that are about half the price of the larger ones but with half the power too (i.e. shorter run). I have a bank of 3 chargers setup and just switch batteries as needed. I also have some cordless Homelite garden tools (hedge trimmer and weed eater) that use the same batteries. I've used these about 3-1/2 years now and at least one of the batteries needs to be replaced (I have 4 batteries).

I like this setup a lot. It was inexpensive and it does what I need it to do. I will probably buy a second one so I don't need to change between a bit and screw driver tip. I haven't tried any expensive drills so I can't compare it to any but it feels good in my hand and seems balanced. Go check out a few at your local big box store, or wood worker specialty shop. Lots of retailers will also let you try some of them out before you buy.

[Tom Adger]

After reading all the reviews I could find, I bought the #452 Makita. I have had it a few weeks, and am very satisfied with it. The Milwaukee was a close 2nd in the reviews. I have several Milwaukee power tools, and they are outstanding. I would choose between the two.

[Karl Brogger]

Panasonic does not sell an 18V Li-ion drill. They sell 14.4V and ~22V models. I have the 14.4 and it has plenty of power & longevity.


No more 15.6v?! I know they weren't Li-Ion, but....

[Keith Outten]

I like the 12 volt Ryobi for $39.00 at HD. It comes with two batteries and a charger and is the best bang for the buck I have found. I purchased two of them over a year ago, one for the shop at CNU and one for my workshop. The one at CNU gets used all day long in the sign shop and it is used for sign installs. Tough, powerful and a great value.
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[Will Overton]

The biggest noticeable difference among all the major brands is how they feel in your hand. Before choosing, go pick up and handle as many as you can. Then, select between the 2 most comfortable. Nobody can suggest what will be comfortable for you ... other than you.

[Paul Canaris]

I went out and purchased a Makita LXT211 Lithium-Ion Cordless combo kit. It comes with the BHP452 1/2" Hammer Driver, BTD141 Impact Driver, charger and two 3 ah batteries. I like the weight and balance of these more than the Hitachi's I was originally looking at, although this was $100 more and should be more substantial. Thanks for all of the input from everyone.:)

[Russ Hauser]

To me, the most important feature on a cordless drill/driver is a brake on the chuck. I always have difficulty getting keyless chucks tight enough. In fact I used to replace the keyless chucks with Jacobs keyed chucks, untilI discovered drill/drivers with brakes.

[David Thompson 27577]

IMO, the jury is still out on Lithium batteries for power tools.

I have a Panasonic 15.6V drill driver, with NiMH (nickel-metal-hydride) batteries. I've had it since about 2004.

I bought this specific drill because it got great reviews back in '04. And if/when the batteries finally die, I'll want another.

Six years on, the batteries still take and hold a good charge.

And the torque is as good as most 18V drills.

[Stew Hagerty]

I have the new Rockwell LithiumTech tools. They got the Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award in 2009. And I couldn't be happier. I was a General Contractor for years and so used a quite a few cordless drill/drivers over the years starting with Makita's 9.6V back in the late 80's.

I have to say this is by far the best cordless drill I have ever used. It is light weight, powerful, has long batter life and a 35 minute recharge when the batteries do run down. The set comes with both the drill/driver and an impact driver, 2 batteries, charger, and carrying case.

I don't know if it is still going on, but when I bought my set they had a free replacement batteries for life promo running. I checked out several of the newer units out there right now before buying, including Makita and DeWalt. I'm glad I picked this set.

[John Mark Lane]

I like the 12 volt Ryobi for $39.00 at HD. It comes with two batteries and a charger and is the best bang for the buck I have found. I purchased two of them over a year ago, one for the shop at CNU and one for my workshop. The one at CNU gets used all day long in the sign shop and it is used for sign installs. Tough, powerful and a great value.
.

You have to be kidding? $39? I'm off to HD tonight. I have a couple of Dewalts, and as much as I dislike yellow tools, they have been quite impressive. Annoyingly so...

[Kevin Groenke]

IMO, the jury is still out on Lithium batteries for power tools.

I have a Panasonic 15.6V drill driver, with NiMH (nickel-metal-hydride) batteries. I've had it since about 2004.

I bought this specific drill because it got great reviews back in '04. And if/when the batteries finally die, I'll want another.

Six years on, the batteries still take and hold a good charge.

And the torque is as good as most 18V drills.

I'll ditto David,

We have 10) Panny 15.6 w/3.5ah batteries that are used hard in a student shop and in production work, a few of them have been going for 10+ years. A couple chucks have been replaced and about 8 batteries have tanked, but the drills themselves just keep on going. I would not recommend a 15.6v for driving lag bolts or forstner bits all day, but for holes less the 1/2" and utility screws it's plenty. Rarely does the 15.6v have insufficient torque for a task, in fact earlier today one twisted out of a guy's hand who had been used to using a Ryobi 18v.

I've been tempted to try the Makita 18vLiIon because of their great reviews, but the Panasonics haven't really given me reason too. The 14.4v Pana LiIon just feels to cheap/light to me and the 22v to big. To me the ergonomics of the Pana 15.6v drills can't be beat.

I also like the compact 12v units from Milwaukee and Makita for light and tight quarter work, but they haven't got the torque or longevity for "serious" work.

-kg

[Dave Tesch]

i have a 12v dewalt that i think is great. it has enough power to rip itself clean out of my hand if i am not careful, and is light enough/well balanced that i dont get tired using it all day. the battery lasts about 25 minutes of SEVERE use but only takes 20 minutes to charge. it comes with two batteries and a peak charger so i always have a charged battery.

[Paul McGaha]

Hi Paul,

I'm currently using (2) 18 Volt Makita's. They are good.

I also like Bosch Battery Drills. They are pricey but really strong and well balanced.

PHM

[Keith Outten]

You have to be kidding? $39? I'm off to HD tonight. I have a couple of Dewalts, and as much as I dislike yellow tools, they have been quite impressive. Annoyingly so...

John,

Seriously the 12 volt Ryobi is a super drill for the money. I own two Dewalt drills, they are expensive and battery replacements are expensive in my opinion. The truth is that Dewalt kinda made me mad when they raised prices awhile back so when I went shopping for a Dewalt drill for the shop at CNU I was upset at the big jump in cost. I saw the Ryobi on the shelf for $39.00 and decided to give it a try. A couple months later I bought another one for my shop at home, mostly because it is light and easy on the hands.

I have been driving 3" long square drive screws with the Ryobi and hanging signs all day long on a single charge.
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[Will Overton]

John,

Seriously the 12 volt Ryobi is a super drill for the money.

Are you saying it's a super drill, or only super because it's cheap?

[Eiji Fuller]

I love the Panasonic 15.6. great drills.

I have a festool C12 and I love it. and they are only 300 right now without the cool extra chucks. only hehe and thats the clearance price. can you believe it?

the C12 is pure joy to use though. and I have never once regretted the purchase. Im a lil crazy though and not all that financially responsible:rolleyes:

[Erik Frederiksen]

IMO, the jury is still out on Lithium batteries for power tools.

I disagree. I have had Makita cordless tools for years, but finally bought Festools new 15 volt lithium drill. I think if Festool has started using lithium batteries that's a sign that the jury is in. :-)

It is a fantastic drill that makes my Makitas look a little, well, cheap.

[Randal Stevenson]

I looked a few years back at all the ones. The price difference was too dramatic for my pocket. I ended up with the Panasonic 15.6 and the Bosch PS series of tools. I prefer the smaller tool when possible, and if I need more power then the 15.6, I go to a cord or airline.

My old Ridgid, 14.4 impact driver is getting long in the tooth. (new batteries won't carry the service agreement), and since it only had one battery, when I found a deal on the 12v Ryobi Impact, for less then one Ridgid battery, I picked it up. An impact will dramatically reduce your drills use.

Now if I can find a bushing (I went to go replace the Panny chuck today, and found the whole Jacobs chuck fiasco), my drill will be back up shortly. (It wasn't broken yet, and I had to try to be preventative.:rolleyes: )

[Keith Outten]

Are you saying it's a super drill, or only super because it's cheap?

Will,

I should have said that the Ryobi is a super value. The cost versus performance ratio makes it very attractive. It won't take the place of a heavy duty drill but in those cases I use electric drills anyway. For 90% of my drilling needs every day the Ryobi does a fine job and at the same time it is easy on the budget :)
.

[Prashun Patel]

Go for the one that feels best in yr hand.

Both of the ones you mention are good values.

I have the Makita compact 18v. The big benefit of this one is ironically the fact that it has small (1.5Ah) batteries. It makes the drill lighter. The bat life is fine for furniture work.

If you really need killer torque or are driving a lot of long screws all day, then an impact driver is a better choice anyway.